Home » Thoughts for the Week » Seek His kingdom first (28 July)

Seek His kingdom first (28 July)

Our Thought for the Week this week comes from Laura Evans, who is a member of EBA Council and currently the Children Youth and Families worker at Cornerstone Baptist church.  In September Laura is moving on to a new role with a Missional Community, we will be sorry to lose her from Council, but wish her and her husband every blessing as they step into a new ministry.

Seek His Kingdom First

May it be that when I say to a young woman, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.” (Genesis 24:14 NIV).

I love this story and we can learn so much from this beautiful illustration of trust in God.

Most people think that this most beloved and most trusted servant was Eliezer of Damascus (himself a great, great grandson of Noah). Certainly Abraham trusted him with the most important task that Abraham could think of – getting a wife for his only son and securing God’s inheritance. No big deal then ! It’s easy to see why Eliezer wanted to get the Terms and Conditions absolutely clear.

Abraham, however, is confident in the promises of God and he says to Eliezer ‘God promised it … so he will send an Angel before you’.

So off he goes to Abraham’s old stomping ground of Haran (now called Nahor) to get a wife from among Abraham’s family and he went in style with an entourage of ten camels, bags of gifts, gold jewellery and the opportunity to marry into the biggest family business around.

After a couple of weeks he gets to his destination and waits by the well. He knows that lots of women will be coming to get water when the day cools down and so he prays ‘Lord, always assuming that I ask the right young woman, please let her jump through a specific series of hoops so that I can be sure she’s the one.’

His prayer may seem strange (and very detailed) to us but he was Abraham’s top guy, he knew him and he knew his ways. He himself was a believer in the Most High God and he’d been with the family through a great deal. His boss had told him that an Angel would go before him. This man knew and trusted God and his prayer shows us just how much. Just like Abraham, his servant had learned to talk with God and he’d learned to trust the answers to his prayers.  His own close walk with God enabled him to understand the will of God and to trust his actions when following God’s will.

Eliezer walked straight up to Rebekah. Maybe he could see the finer clothes and bearing of a woman from a rich family. Maybe she led the household servants to the important task of the evening well. Maybe she just looked ‘right’ … we don’t know. He had prayed in his heart that she would be generous and hospitable and she passed the test.

I wish I was that confident in my own prayer life ! I wish I trusted in the will of God enough to say prayers that specific … to have that level of confidence that my God will keep His promises to me, yes even to me !  And when I do pray with such detail for God to move in a specific way, for it to be in His will … I just think ‘Who am I to test God ?’ Good question…

Eliezer knew God’s promises and knew that he was a part of bringing about God’s will. His prayer shows us that he trusted God and not himself. He wasn’t testing God !

In this coming week let’s expect more of God in our lives. Let’s pray with expectation. Let’s pray confidently and specifically. Let’s pray and act in ways that show our belief and trust in an abundant and loving God. A God who delights in us and delights in our prayers.